A/N- I have absolutely no excuse for why it took me so long to update this story. I don't expect forgiveness nor do I require it. I just hope that this chapter can somewhat make up for my hiatus.

(-)

Starrk was currently taking a nap on board a ship that was sailing towards a town called Magnolia that was the base of operations for the mage guild Fairy Tail.

At least he was trying to take a nap.

The already difficult task of sleeping on a rocking ship was made even more complicated by the rather noisy crew on board said ship. There was a small party being held on the deck as it seemed that the majority of the passengers had been missing for quite some time and their comrades were happy to see them again. The partying mainly consisted of shouting, dancing joyously and playing games, but it was still a rather excited atmosphere nonetheless.

All of the things that made for a rather crappy nap. Starrk's only saving grace was that Lilynette had joined in on the festivities so she wasn't bothering him to stay awake.

"How on earth did we end up in this situation?" Starrk asked lazily as he gazed up at the sky.

Flashback...

"Shot in the dark here, but have you ever heard of Fairy Tail?" Starrk asked the elderly man.

"Why yes, that would be us. We are the mage guild Fairy Tail. Why do you ask?"

"Hmm, the last thing I remember after dying was a voice telling me to go to Fairy Tail." Starrk answered.

"Whatever do you mean by 'after dying'?" Makarov asked.

"Well..." Starrk started as he scratched his chin. "It's a long story, and I don't like telling long stories. They are far too tiring. So let's just say that me and Lilynette here died on the field of battle and afterwards we were offered a second chance at life."

"I suppose that explains why the two of you have holes in your chests. You get shot there or something?"

Starrk felt like he should clear up the fact that the holes have nothing to do with how they died, but that would be another long explanation. And he didn't feel like having to go into detail about that right now so he just nodded. "Yeah, something like that."

"So I guess that means you two were sent here to join my guild. Is that right?"

"I guess so. We ain't got nothing better to do, so we might as well join. I remember the voice said that Fairy tail was a place where I would finally be able to make friends."

"Hey! What am I then?" Lilynette asked, taking what Starrk said as an insult.

"An alarm clock." he answered immediately.

"Jackass!" Lilynette screamed as she kicked him in the shin.

Starrk grabbed his leg in pain as Lilynette stomped about, throwing a tantrum. "A violent alarm clock, but one that I wouldn't be able to live without."

Lilynette glanced back at Starrk before pouting slightly. "Mmnn, apology accepted." she then gave him a big smile.

Makarov coughed, regaining their attention. "As we were saying, you want to join my guild, and you seem like decent folk, so I suppose I could let you join. But first we should get to know each other better. Although this right now isn't the best time as we have to return to our guild. The majority of us here have been gone for quite some time and our friends miss us terribly."

"Yes, I suppose we can hold off on proper introductions until later. For now I just want to take a nap." Starrk said as he yawned.

"You always want to take a nap." scoffed Lilynette.

"Only because you never let me finish one." Starrk responded before returning his attention to Makarov. "So, where are we going?"

Flashback end...

So Starrk leaned back against the side of the ship as he attempted to catch a few z's but to no avail. Seeing as how there was no way that he would get any sleep, he decided to explore the ship.

He ran into Lilynette on the front deck who playing a card game with a few of the other crew members. They were sitting in a circle with cards in their hands and a few set out on the ground.

"What are you playing?" Starrk asked as he leaned over Lilynette's shoulder to peer at her cards.

"Something called 'black jack' but I have no idea what I'm doing." she responded as she glared at her cards.

Starrk recalled the game vaguely as he had played it a few times in passing back at Las Noches in order to pass time. But Lilynette never bothered to learn to play or even remember the game for that matter.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it." said a girl in a bikini who was taking a swig from a bottle. "But unfortunately for you, I'm a pro at card games." the girl said as she revealed her hand. "21." she smiled smugly.

The rest of the players groaned as they flopped their cards down to reveal that they had junk or bust.

Starrk moved on to another location on the ship. At the bow he found the pink haired fireball who was currently keeling over the edge. His face was painted a sickly green. But what surprised Starrk was the floating blue cat beside him who was rubbing his back and saying comforting words.

He was staring at the sight for a few moments before he was approached from behind by a diminutive blue haired girl who held a white cat in her arms.

"First time seeing an Exceed?" she asked.

"Is that what the cat is?"

"Yes. There are three of them in our guild. The blue one is happy, there is a black one named Pantherlily who can also change his size, and this is Carla." the girl said as she looked down to the cat in her arms.

"Don't forget to introduce yourself girl." the cat scolded.

"Ah! Yes, my name is Wendy Marvell." the girl said as she gave a bow.

"Coyote Starrk." Starrk said politely as he gave a slight bow as well. "What's wrong with pink hair?" Starrk asked as he jabbed his finger over his shoulder.

"Ah, Natsu gets motion sickness really easily. It's his greatest weakness." Wendy explained.

"I see."

The two stood there in silence for a few moments before Carla coughed and nudged Wendy in the gut.

"Umm, Coyote?"

"Call me Starrk. That's what I usually go by."

"Okay... Starrk?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what would that be?" Starrk said as he scratched at his chin.

"Why don't you smell human?" Wendy asked innocently.

Starrk momentarily froze at the question. "What do you mean by that?" he asked warily.

"Well you see, I'm a dragon slayer. If you are not aware of what that means, it's basically that I was taught magic that allows me to take on the aspects of a dragon. And one of the effects of it is that I have heightened senses." she explained. "And for whatever reason you don't smell human."

"Well what do I smell like then?" inquired Starrk.

"You smell... empty. You don't have a scent at all. That girl too." Wendy added as her gaze drifted towards Lilynette.

Starrk let out a yawn as he thought about how to word his response. "Listen kiddo." he said as he knelt down to Wendy's eye level. "I'll explain everything in due time, but for now just know that I am of no threat to you or your friends." Starrk said as he patted Wendy on the head.

The girl smiled in response to this before wandering off.

"This is gonna be hell to explain." Starrk said as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and continued to wander the ship.

He spent some time watching the crew dance and sing on the deck, observed as a fight broke out for a short while before being promptly stopped by a crimson haired girl clad in armor, and even eventually joined in on the card game with Lilynette.

Eventually Starrk made his way below deck in search of a bed despite the fact that he was told they would be reaching the shore soon. As he walked the corridors he overheard something.

"Are you sure about them master?"

Starrk stopped where he was and pressed his back against the wall as he listened in on the conversation.

"That Starrk fellow has this weird feeling to him. He's not normal. Are you sure you want to let them join the guild?"

Starrk recognized the voice as belonging to the crimson haired girl from earlier. She seemed to be speaking with Makarov about something. That something most likely being him and Lilynette.

"Listen Erza. I know what you are talking about, but even so he seems to genuinely want to join our guild."

"Are you really taking what he says at face value? He says that he died and was sent to join us to make friends. I don't know abou you, but I won't be trusting him that easily."

"Erza." Makarov said sternly. "Did you look into his eyes?"

"What do you mean?"

"The look of loneliness in his eyes when he said he was sent to us to make friends. You can't fake that. I'd wager that he spent the majority of his life alone or just with that Lilynette girl." Makarov said as his voice turned somber. "Can you really turn away someone like that?"

There was silence for a few moments. "I suppose not."

"That's not to say I won't be keeping an eye on him. Until we get to know him he is still a stranger to us. But I just have this gut feeling that he is a good person... just hopefully not as destructive as the rest of our guild." the aged master wept. "I can't deal with any more complaints from the council."

Starrk left from his hiding spot and decided to head back up top and wait for them to arrive at the docks.

(-)

It was along walk through the town of Magnolia and into the wilderness before the group arrived at the guildhall of Fairy Tail. It was a rundown looking building the looked like it was about ready to collapse in on itself. As the group approached the building they noticed a large group of menacing looking thugs standing in the doorway.

From his higher vantage point, Starrk could see that one of the thugs was about to smash a kid with a mace. The man swung his mace down, but before it hit the kid, Starrk sonidoed in front of him and took the blow to his chest. However because of his hierro, the only thing that broke as a result was that fellows mace.

"Huh?" he uttered before he received a flame enhanced kick to the back. Starrk stepped out of the way as the man flew past him and through the air. The rest of his buddies spun around to see who had attacked them, only to be knocked out of commission by various means. The thugs fell to the ground with broken bones and teeth and revealed the Fairy Tail group that had been gone for seven years.

"We're home!"

"Yo!"

"How's it going?"

"We're back."

"We've come back home."

"What's up with this tiny guild?"

The various members of the guild greeted with smiles as they entered the building. Everyone who was already inside, aka the group that wasn't missing, had tears in their eyes as they joyously greeted their guildmates with open arms.

It took all of ten seconds for a party to start, much to Starrk's distaste. However he decided to suck it up and enjoy the atmosphere for once. Although he wasn't a true member of the guild yet, the rest of its members treated him and Lilynette like they were already a part of the family. Needless to say Lilynette was having a blast, finally having a bunch of fun loving friends as opposed to the rather stuffy Espada. Starrk meanwhile decided to have some beer and found a nice, relatively quiet corner to watch the festivities from. As the party went on he was eventually approached by Makarov who took a seat next to him.

"So, what do you think of the guild so far?" he asked.

"Well, it certainly is noisy." answered Starrk.

"Not used to the noise?"

"Mainly just from Lilynette. My last group was rather quiet for the most part. Although they were also hard to get along with." Starrk said as he took a sip from his mug. "This guild is a much more cheerful place than the last organization I was a part of. It's like a room full of Lilynettes." Starrk mused as he watched a chair fly through the air and smash into someone. Not long after a fight broke out again, only for it to be stopped by the red haired knight girl.

Makarov sobbed for a moment and mumbled something about property damage before returning focus to Starrk. "Once everyone settles down and we all get reacquainted, I would like to know more about you as well as give you a proper introduction to the guild."

"Sounds like a plan." Stark said as he began formulating his story in his head. He already knew that some were wary of him and Lilynette, so he wanted to make himself seem sympathetic to them. He didn't want them to drive him and Lilynette off just because they weren't technically alive.

The night dragged on and one by one the guild members dropped like flies. Lilynette was splayed out on the floor, fast asleep along with the rest of the guild who had taken to their improvised beds. Surprisingly enough Starrk was still up. He watched the guild sleep as he remained alone with his thoughts. This was the first time he had been part of something like this. The Espada never had parties and they most certainly weren't friendly. He looked at Lilynette's peaceful sleeping face fondly before finding a spot for himself to lay down. It wasn't long after before sleep claimed him.